UTEP appoints new academic affairs provost

The University of Texas at El Paso has appointed a new top academic officer.

Carol A. Parker will be UTEP's provost and vice president for academic affairs starting Sept. 1.

Parker is currently the senior vice provost for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She has spent more than a decade as a faculty member and administrator at New Mexico's flagship university after joining UNM as an assistant professor of law in 2004.

As UTEP's provost, she'll work with administrators and faculty to develop and oversee UTEP's academic programs.

"Her leadership as a senior academic administrator at the University of New Mexico, together with her strong commitment to the role of public higher education in fostering social mobility, align extremely well with the academic leadership role she will play at UTEP," Diana Natalicio, UTEP president, said in a news release.

Parker holds a law degree from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, where she's a licensed attorney. She also has a Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Michigan State University's Honors College.

“I am really looking forward to working with the faculty and the senior leadership teams to continue UTEP’s important mission of providing students with an excellent education, preparing them for successful careers, and advancing the El Paso region through new research discoveries," Parker said in the news release.

Parker replaces interim Provost Howard Daudistel, who took over for former Provost Junius Gonzales after he became the senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina in January 2015.

Also on Monday, UTEP announced the appointment of Stephen Crites as the interim dean of the university's College of Liberal Arts. Currently, Crites is a professor and chairman of UTEP's psychology department.

He has a doctorate in social psychology from Ohio State University and joined UTEP in 1994.

He replaces Patricia Witherspoon, who has led the college as dean since 2011 and is retiring.